The prior art discloses processes for the oxydehydrogenation of ethane to ethylene, but the processes disclosed use a single fixed bed of catalyst.
In particular, the prior art discloses the oxydehydrogenation of ethane to ethylene using low temperature catalysts which catalytically act on a mixture of ethane and oxygen to produce an output gaseous stream comprising ethylene, acetic acid, unreacted ethane, unreacted oxygen, and other gases such as CO and CO.sub.2. Such catalysts and processes are disclosed in the article entitled, "The Oxidative Dehydrogenation of Ethane Over Catalysts Containing Mixed Oxides of Molybdenum and Vanadium" by E. M. Thorsteinson, T. P. Wilson, F. G. Young, and P. H. Kasai, in Journal of Catalysis, 52, p.p. 116-132 (1978). In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 4,250,346 discloses processes for low temperature catalytic oxydehydrogenation of ethane to ethylene and discloses many suitable catalysts.